Published ideas - Neighborhoods and Families | Richmond Brainstorm

Increase green spaces in the central business district

Submitted by Chris Hardie in Neighborhoods and Families

This idea was suggested by a participant at this morning's brainstorming meeting at the Uptown Innovation Center:

It would be great to have more green spaces where workers in the central business district could sit to eat lunch, read, relax, etc. while taking a break from their work day. This could be done in partnership with local businesses, property owners, the Parks department, and the City government.

Create a swap spot

Submitted by anna lisa gross in Neighborhoods and Families

Dumpster diving is intimidating for many (not to mention illegal). Freecycle is great, but old magazines or tin can lids don't seem worthy of mass emailing.

Many cities have specific locations (often next to/part of recycling drop-offs) for sharing free stuff.

The puruser still finds treasure at her own risk, but doesn't have to sort through rotting veggies to find wood scraps for a home improvement project.

Bins can be labeled clearly to make organization easy.

Use Freecycling to find treasures and save money

Submitted by Chris Hardie in Neighborhoods and Families

Freecycling is a tool that allows us to make better use of the items we don't need any more - instead of throwing them away or worrying about how best to donate them, we can "freecycle them:" offer them up to the folks who might want or need them most. You can learn more about Freecycling in general, or visit the local group that's already been started.

Create community tool sheds

Submitted by Chris Hardie in Neighborhoods and Families

We don't all need to own our own lawnmower, tiller, weed whacker and gardening tools, do we? We buy these things and keep our own because we think that's convenient, but how much harder would it be to walk down the street to a neighborhood tool shed where you could "check out" a well-maintained yard appliance for a few hours, and for much less than the cost of buying it yourself? Sounds good, doesn't it?

Have more potluck meals

Submitted by Chris Hardie in Neighborhoods and Families

Potlucks are great ways to get to know your neighbors, co-workers, and others around you while sharing good food. They can usually be done on short notice, and tend to provide more than enough food for everyone who comes, even if a few folks don't have time to prepare dishes.

Organizing a potluck can be as easy as picking a time and place, but you can also play around with the idea by having themes, trying to make dishes from local ingredients, etc.

Launch the Wayne County Time Bank

Submitted by Chris Hardie in Neighborhoods and Families

Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It's a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.